It's the eternal struggle of who will ultimately destroy who: the disc or the microwave? While most of you will undoubtedly say "the microwave, you dolt!" there are still a few people who secretly wish the discs would unleash a Limit Break of sorts, shooting lightning back into the microwave and causing an explosion of awesome proportions. Sadly, Blu-ray is not the medium to bring about the end of this microwave oppression. Our only qualms with this video: shaky cam is lame and we really wish he tossed the disc back into the PS3 to see if the PS3 would explode somehow.
Posts with tag blu-ray
Blu-ray organic dye colors mass production possibilities
The standardization of this dye basically means that mass production of the discs is possible which would drive costs into the ground -- the same facilities for DVD-R and CD-R are now open to Blu-ray discs. We could see the price of Blu-ray discs themselves fall sooner than expected, though on the consumer side of things, we'll probably still be charged the premium for an HD movie and such. Still, good to know progress is being made!
[via N4G]
Michael Bay: 'Blu-ray is where my money is'
Due to a recent exclusivity deal, Dreamworks' Transformers became an HD DVD exclusive. Michael Bay became pretty distressed at the deal, and threatened to leave production of Transformers 2.The recent release of the HD DVD has been the best debut HD disc so far -- a significant victory for those in the HD DVD camp. However, that hasn't stopped the outspoken director from declaring Blu-ray as the ultimate victor. "It's short-sighted and it has delayed consumers' moving to HD (home video)," he told USA Today. "As a director, my critical eye is that Blu-ray is where my money is. Consumers are smart, and they are going to wait it out."
The exclusivity arrangement for Dreamworks' catalog expires in less than two years.
[Thanks, AG23!]
Blu-ray movie releases for the week of Oct. 23
This week should be declared a national holiday called Stanley Kubrick's Week of Glorious Movies as several of the legendary filmmaker's hits are released on Blu-ray.- Home of the Brave
- 2001: A Space Odyssey
- The Shining
- Meet the Robinsons
- A Clockwork Orange
- Full Metal Jacket: Deluxe Edition
- Eyes Wide Shut
- Hostel Part II: Director's Cut
- Hostel: Director's Cut
- Mr. Brooks
- The Sopranos: Season Six, Part II
- King of New York
- Scary Movie
- The Company
- The Hills Have Eyes 2: Unrated
Meijer sells Blu-ray exclusively on site, cites 4:1 sales ratio
Meijer, a major retailer, has announced they will carry Blu-ray titles exclusively on its website. Dawn Bronkema, Meijer's director of e-commerce marketing, told Video Business that Blu-ray discs were outselling HD DVD discs by a huge 4-1 margin. As a result, the company is focusing on Sony's movie format.
There will be plans to expand to HD DVD in the future. However, "current sales prompted the company to expand its Blu-ray inventory rather than add HD DVD titles at this point."
[Thanks, Andy!]
Deal of the Day: Buy one Blu-ray, get one at Amazon
This could very well be one of the best Blu-ray deals to date. Amazon currently has a buy one, get one deal on nearly 40 Blu-ray titles.Although these movies may not be the greatest of Blu-ray offerings, most are pretty solid titles, and definitely deserve a home on your shelf. This is your chance to easily pick up titles like Invincible, The Prestige, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
And hey, if you've finally gotten enough of Lair, why don't you sit down with Matthew McConaughey's epic Reign of Fire?
Blu-ray movie releases for the week of Oct. 16
The horror-themed Blu-ray releases continue this week with a bevy of thrillers that should please any horror fan. Some may not like the decision to focus on the horror genre during the month of Halloween, but we're having a great time as some of the greatest horror movies have been released.- Hollow Man: Director's Cut
- The Reaping
- The Invisible
- AC/DC: Live at Donington
- Return to House on Haunted Hill
- Masters of Horror: Season One, Volume I
- Masters of Horror: Season One, Volume II
This week is arguably topped of with the director's cut of Hollow Man, but there's also AC/DC: Live at Donington thrown in, too. Some of you younger folks may not know, but AC/DC is one of the greatest rock bands of all time. You would make your father proud by picking it up and watching the greatest band to ever come out of Australia.
Assassin's Creed facing problems with DVD, PS3 memory
Ubisoft's big game of the year, Assassin's Creed is running to problems on both Xbox 360 and PS3. On Xbox 360, the developers are noting that the size of a traditional DVD is much too limiting for the ambitious action game. Speaking to Pro-G, the team reveals that "right now we have a big challenge on the 360 to make it fit on a DVD, to put five languages, to put all the data on eight gigs. On the Blu-ray side we're really good."However, developing on the PS3 isn't all roses and candy. The team is struggling for a completely different reason on PS3. "How we handle memory is really different between the two machines and we're struggling right now on the PS3." Thankfully, with a little help from Sony, the team is confident that "the PS3 version is as good as the 360." In a time where developers are making lazy ports to PS3, it's great to hear that such a huge title as Assassin's Creed is getting the treatment it deserves on our system. Oh, and it actually comes out on the same day as the 360 version as well. That's the way we like it.
Blu-ray sales growing, PS3 getting interactivity update
PS3 will also receive a firmware update in the future which will "boost its Blu-ray interactivity functionality." Hi-Def Digest thinks it might be be an upgrade which allows the PS3 to support Blu-Ray Profile Spec 1.1. Currently, many Blu-ray discs are crippled by the lack of Java interactivity. A simple firmware update should make Blu-ray even more competitive and give it access to high definition content that's been exclusive on HD DVD.
[Via N4G]
HD DVD group: Cheaper PS3 won't help Blu-ray sales
While gamers and retail chains have been mostly praising Sony's new cheaper PS3 (aside from the backward-compatibility issue), the European HD DVD Promotional Group has said the 40GB system won't have much impact on Blu-ray sales in the region."The European PS3 price cut will have a minimal impact on the adoption of next generation HD formats. The real battleground is in sales of standalone players and HD DVD is out in front by a massive margin," Co-Chairman of the European HD DVD Promotional Group Ken Graffeo said. According to the group, HD DVD accounts for about 70 percent of the European market, and it expects that number to continue to grow.
However, many believe this year's holiday period will go a long way in deciding which format will reign as king, and we think the HD DVD group may be underestimating the impact of the 40GB PS3.
Hitachi working on 100GB Blu-ray discs
Well, there is a catch. All Blu-ray players would have to have their optical heads tweaked a little bit, but it's something that can be worked out in a firmware update. No word on a release for the discs, but as soon as they finish stabilizing the signal quality, we'll hear an announcement of some kind.
[Thanks, Gunegune!]
Blu-ray movie releases for the week of Oct. 9
October has so far been a great month for Blu-ray movie fans. Last week, we were treated to several horror titles, and we're getting a few more this week.- 28 Days Later
- 28 Weeks Later
- Surf's Up
- Robocop
- Edward Scissorhands
- Twilight Zone: The Movie
- From Hell
- Reign Over Me
- Nature's Journey
- The Fly
Kaz Hirai believes disc formats aren't dying yet
Sony is looking into further media expansion with the PS3, implies Hirai, stating they are "reviewing options for other content to be delivered through PLAYSTATION®Network, including music, movies, and TV, all of which can be found in the Sony family of companies." This is probably what brought up the conversation about the future of discs, particularly Blu-ray. Is the disc a dying format? Hirai shakes his head. "Far from it. For many years to come there will be a place at the table for disc-based content in the world of entertainment. It is about offering consumers options. Some may like the convenience of downloading a game at home, while others will always want the experience of going to the store and talking to the clerks and other consumers about the games they are interested in." Well, we personally just like having something tangible -- we gave up money, so having something to show for it is a plus. How many of you guys and gals like having a physical representation of your spent money? Or would you rather just download it all?
Blu-ray movie releases for the week of Sept. 30
Now that we're entering the month of Halloween, we'll be seeing an influx of Blu-ray horror movies, and we can't be more excited. This week we're treated with vampires, zombies and psychotic killers, but if horror isn't your thing, you should be covered with A Room with a View and Galapagos.- Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
- Bram Stoker's Dracula
- The Day After Tomorrow
- Halloween
- Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn
- Dawn of the Dead
- Day of the Dead
- Galapagos
- A Room with a View
Report: Blu-ray/HD DVD war to end in 18 months
However, Forrester Research analyst J.P. Gownder said Sony still has some work to go before it can be crowned, beginning with cutting prices. "Blu-ray needs to offer a viable hardware model at the $250 price point by Christmas 2007," he said. "Failure to alter strategy would open up Blu-ray to a possible upset defeat at the hands of HD DVD."
Although Paramount's defection to the HD DVD camp certainly was a blow to Blu-ray, companies have been ramping up support of Sony's movie format, both with increased movie support and shelf space. Either way, we just hope it comes to an end long before their prognostication.
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